start of something new
by teddylupin-snape
Summary: James and Lily end up auditioning for a musical. / High School Musical!AU


James finds it a bit strange that he meets Lily at a karaoke contest. In retrospect, he supposes it set up everything that followed.

.

She looked as nervous as he felt. He tried to reassure her, giving her a smile as they each picked up a microphone. "Leap of faith?" James murmured. Lily didn't want to meet his eyes, not at first. But then they started singing. It was nice, he decided. James had never dreamed of singing in front of a crowd. He wasn't a singer. But here, at this party with Lily, he didn't mind if he didn't sound good. They seemed to put on a good show, based on the audience's reaction. It only took half the song for Lily to look at him—to _really_ look at him. James was sure he hadn't stopped smiling since.

.

Lily can't honestly believe that the school she transferred to—the random school hundreds of miles from anyone else she knows—is the same school that James attends. Just her luck.

.

When Narcissa Malfoy asked Lily if she was planning to audition for the musical, she quite literally laughed in her face. It was ridiculous—she couldn't audition for a _musical_ of all things. All she wanted was to settle in to her new school before she got too involved. But Narcissa looked satisfied at this response. Lily didn't miss the look James shot the other girl. Before she got the chance to ask him about the encounter, James's friends have swept back in, and he'd disappeared.

.

James doesn't know when his life became this complicated, this different. He's not sure he minds it, though.

.

"You missed practice. Again."

"C'mon, Sirius, it's not like you've never missed practice before." James didn't meet his eyes, just kept packing his bag for the afternoon's classes.

Sirius put a hand on James's shoulder, turning him to face him. "Sure, I have. But _you_ haven't. This isn't like you, mate. What's up?"

"I just… got caught up doing something. Lost track of time." He'd been unintentionally auditioning for the musical at the time, but James definitely was not about to tell Sirius that.

He shot James a shred look nonetheless. "You were with that Evans girl, weren't you?"

"What?"

"Look, mate. Do what you want. Just…don't forget who your people are, alright?"

Sirius left before giving James a chance to respond. He stood there, gaping at an empty hallway.

.

Lily _actually_ auditioned for a musical. Is she crazy? It was an accident, certainly. But she knows now that she wouldn't change anything if she could go back in time.

.

"What are you doing here?" James asked her. She jumped—she'd been lurking in the entrance to the theater, she hadn't heard him come behind her. "Aren't you meant to be studying?"

"Aren't you meant to be at practice?" she countered. "I heard your team isn't too happy with you lately, that your head isn't really in it."

He shrugged. "Were you going to audition?"

"Of course not. You?"

"No. Definitely not."

So they hung back until everyone else had gone. They had a fair few laughs at the more… _interesting_ auditions. James led Lily up to the stage after nearly everyone had left—only the pianist was still there, packing up her papers.

Before either of them knew it, they were singing the audition piece. Not performing it, really. Just singing. Yet it seemed to be enough to land them a call-back. Lily smacked James lightly; his jaw was still open wide.

 _Well_ , she figured. _I guess we're really doing this._

.

James didn't want anyone to know—not his teammates, not his parents. But he should've known they'd find out eventually, and that they might not take it too well.

.

It seemed to happen immediately. James's team turned on him. Sirius was distant. Lily's friends tried pulling her in closer, hoping she'd spend more time with them than with James or the call-back. They tried turning them against each other—telling Lily that James didn't care about her, getting Lily to show James she didn't.

So Lily stuck to her group, and James to his. There were a few days where they didn't so much as look at each other.

"Are you happy now?" he asked Sirius at the end of the day. "I've been to every practice this week, our team's better than ever, and Lily hasn't spoken to me at all. Did you get everything you asked for?"

Sirius looked offended. "We're just looking out for you, mate."

.

Lily doesn't know James's friends that well. She's sure they're _trying_ to care about him, but they really don't have a clue how.

.

James had told Lily everything after he'd finally cornered her into talking to him again. She was disgusted, and when he went to talk to Sirius about it, she sat in the back of the room, listening.

"I'm sorry, James. I shouldn't have—that was really shitty of me." Sirius sighed, leaning back against a desk. "God, I feel like punching myself in the face."

"I can help with that," James laughed, clapping a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "C'mon, you're like a brother to me, Sirius. I forgive you, alright? Don't beat yourself up about it." He pulled Sirius into a hug. Lily rolled her eyes, giving a small smile.

"So, are you coming to the show, then?"

.

James is still baffled, frankly, at being both a jock and a theater kid. But both things feel so right, so he's not going to question it.

.

It was the day of the call-backs. It was the day of the last game of the season. James hadn't stopped running.

He made it on stage just in time. They'd already started playing the starting chords of the song. He hurried over to where Lily stood. She gave him a skeptical look, but shook it off quickly, the nervousness still present in her eyes.

She pulled at her dress, staring out over the audience with her mouth slightly open. They played her cue a few times. Lily wasn't getting it. James took her hand, trying to reassure her. She met his eyes, taking a deep breath and singing to him, just like they did back during the karaoke contest.

 **.**

 **A/N: Written for Advent Calendar Day 14: (crossover/AU) High School Musical;**

 **Writing Club - Character Appreciation 18: (trait) Manipulative; Disney Challenge S9: Write about someone trying to convince someone else to eschew love; Book Club – Mrs Owens: (dialogue) "Aren't you meant to be studying?", (action) singing, (object) dress; Showtime 22: (phrase) Leap of faith; Amber's Attic F4: Write about a misunderstanding; Count Your Buttons D4: "Did you get everything you asked for?";**

 **Seasonal – Days of the Year: Oct 12 – Write about someone cracking under pressure; Birthstones: (dialogue) "I feel like punching myself in the face." / "I can help with that.";**

 **Writing Month and Dragons: wc 1056**


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